Flow/Release planning

This page is currently a draft.
More information and discussion about changes to this draft on the talk page.

The first release of Flow targets mostly experienced users on WikiProject talk pages. After this first release, we have a lot of potential directions to go. This doc is meant to capture thinking on personas, target namespaces, and feature buckets for post-MVP.

More intuitive, responsive, customized for my preferences, beyond what talk pages can currently support.

YDone Show my posts differently, to enable easier scanning of long pages.

YDone Sticky collapse. When I set a preferred view (collapsed, small) I see content in that view until I change it again.

Easier permalinking (copy to clipboard, one click to share link in new post).

Show read/unread state. I have an indication of when I've seen something vs. when something is new/unread.

BlockedRequires RfC, input from Platform – Content updates in real time (no need to refresh the page to see new topics/posts), edit conflict avoidance (“user x is editing this post”). As an editor, I want to be able to see that someone else is editing/typing into a topic, so that I can wait until they finish to reply.

BlockedRequires re-architecting the watchlist Per-topic subscriptions. As an editor, I want to subscribe to individual topics, so that I can keep track of single discussions in very active pages, without being overwhelmed by everything else.

BlockedRequires input from Legal, re-enabling "real name" field. As someone who is confused by usernames like WOSHFKH89, I want to see those around me with more human-readable names so that I can easily recognize those I interact with most often, and be reminded they are people.

Editing tools (Wikitext)

As an experienced user using the wikitext interface, I want to use the edit-toolbar, to add markup (bold, strikeout, etc) and complex templates (eg properly formatting a citation template).

Editing tools (Visual Editor)

As an experienced patroller, I would like to be able to "template" users without relying on exactly the default text of the template (I want to be able to customize a use of a template, at time of use).

As a user, I want mentions to autocomplete for me, so I don't have to type the full markup/username of the person I'm mentioning

As a user, I want an easy, lightweight way to format my posts, so I can easily link, bold, etc. without knowing wikitext markup

Drafts function

As an editor, if I'm interrupted while responding and must leave the conversation, I want to be able to save my partial response, so that I can come back and finish it later. (see the blocked #Mobile and tablet item)

Misc.

As a user who participated in a conversation which I am no longer interested in, I should be able to "mute" a conversation so that I will no longer get notifications which i don't care about. (Without un-watching it entirely)

As an article writer, I want maintenance tags (eg. {{clarify}}) to link directly to the topic that discusses the issue. (Ie. utilize the ambox "|discuss=" parameter better)

In progress Summarize. As an experienced user, I want to close and summarize topics and posts, so I can make a decision, or end long, heated debates

As an Oversighter, I need to have access to suppressing topics and individual elements (comments, usernames) within topics, as well as entire topics, and I need to be able to nuke all instances of those things with as few actions as possible. Oversighters work from page history to make operations.

splitting/merging. As an experienced user, I want to split off tangents into separate discussion, so I can keep the focus on one discussion.

As a new user, I want to be able to ask for unblock, so I can continue editing productively (and I am more comfortable filling in a form than being asked to generate this request myself).

scratchpads. (perhaps in realtime, like etherpad? Main problem to avoid is them turning into "chatrooms" - hard to moderate)

to-do lists. As a new editor who is passionate about hurricane articles, I want to be able to know what other collaborators are currently working to improving hurricane articles so I can take part even though I came in late and feel connected with the editor community within this topic too.

warn user.

Topic/Header undo. As an experienced user (or admin), I want to be able to undo the most recent change to the content of the header/topic title so when there is vandalism, I don't have to copy/paste the old content.

widget interface or workflow toolbar. As a user of Flow, I want to understand that I have more options than just posting, so I can make use of workflows and widgets.

quoting. As an experienced user, I want to be able to easily quote parts of earlier discussions in my posts, so I can refer to them in my new post

polling and !voting support. As an experienced user, I want to engage in existing polling and !voting processes with greater ease, but retaining the flexibility that we currently have.

Reminders. As an editor who has promised "to get back to this in a week", I'd like an easy way to set myself a reminder notification. (orig. request)

Newsletter delivery

opt new users into receiving notifications for updates to the Signpost (newsletters, notices, etc)

In progress As a new (mobile) user, I want to be able to read and reply to discussions, so I can stay in the loop across platforms

Blocked As a user who moves between desktop and mobile, I want my comment drafts sync'd between platforms so I can participate without wasting time. (private user-specific content storage needs to be cleared w/Legal)

As a user who has received notifications on desktop and read them I want to see them marked as such no matter the platform, so that I don't have to clear read states per platform, and only see whats new

As an existing (mobile) user, I want to see all Flow topics I'm part of on mobile, so I don't have to load each whole page individually (mobile feed)

As a user who moves between desktop/laptop/mobile, I want to see things like read and collapse states sync'd between platforms so I can participate without wasting time.

In progress As a user with accessibility requirements (bad eyesight, colorblind, unable to use mouse, etc), I still want to be able to view (visually or with the use of a screenreader) and use (both by mouse or keyboard) all of Flow so that I can partake in discussions & their moderation.

In progress As a user with limited eyesight I want to be able to greatly magnify the interface in my browser without elements overlapping, covering each other, or being pushed off the screen because of fixed widths.

In progress As a blind user, I want to be able to read (listen to) and contribute to Flow, with minimal problems.

In progress As a user who has disabled javascript, or has no access to javascript (old browser, corporate restrictions, etc), I still want (all|most) of Flow to work.

In progress As a non-English user, I still want all of the Flow magic work fine in my own language (RTL support, non-latin characters).

BlockedRequires SUL finalization As a multi-project user I want to see Echo notification get to me no matter what project I'm currently looking at so that I can respond quickly.

As an experienced editor, I want to change the default settings for how various things are displayed for me personally. (visual-density, display order, exact vs elapsed timestamps, mouseover effects vs static, etc.)

As an experienced user (or admin), I want to be able to configure nesting changes (deeper threading/different visual representations of comment/reply hierarchy) on different kinds of pages, so I can adapt the page for different kinds of discussions.

As a multi-project user, I want to be able to keep track of, and contribute to, discussions on various wikis. (cross-wiki user feed)